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History of Z Car Washes
This page takes a look at the history of Shell and Z car washes in New Zealand. Until 2010, Shell uses to operate in New Zealand, however they exited the New Zealand fuel distribution business in April 2010, selling its operations to Infratil and NZ Super. The former Shell operations were rebranded as Z Energy in 2011. The Car Wash history of Shell and Z is incredibly simple, as they have used very few machines. Ryko Ultraclean/Premier XL (1990's) Like most, Shell were installing Ryko UltraClean and Premier XL 5-brish machines throughout the 1990's. These had either plain yellow brushes, or red, yellow and blue brushes. Sadly, almost no images of these exist, as nearly all were removed or replaced before good-quality Google Streetview became available in 2009. None of these remain at any Z stations. Can't see much? Me neither. Yet these 2008 Streetview images are some of the only visual evidence that these machines existed! Click Here to see a an Ultraclean in the USA with Shell's Brushes. Note that the one in the link isn't fitted with Dryer's, whereas the ones here in New Zealand would have been. At the very least it will give you ''some ''idea of what one of these machines probabaly looked like. AklAirport4.png|This unit at Auckland Airport chad plain-yellow brushes. It was replaced in 2008, with a Washtec SoftCare Evo. OriginalRyko-1.png|This site in the lower South Island also had an old Ryko, but this time the brushes were in the tradtional shell colours - Red, Yellow & Blue. It's hard to make it out, but if you look closely, you might see it. Ryko Monarch II (1990's) Shell also installed touch-free Ryko Monarch II's during the 1990's. Again, most were replaced before decent Streetview became available, but some did last longer. One site in Lower Hutt kept there's right up until the Z takeover in 2011. None of these remain at any Z stations. Boulcott5.png|This might just be the only Ryko Car Wash that Shell didn't replace before Z took over in 2011, located in Lower Hutt. It was replaced with a Washtec Softcare when Z took over in 2011. Ceccato Ginga (1990's) Some Shell's in the 1990's feature Ceccato Ginga 3-brush machines. These usually had either multi-coloured or red, blue & yellow brushes. As with the Ryko's, most were replaced or removed before 2008. None of these remain at any Z stations. Ceccato-1.png|This Car Wash was located in a small town on the North Island. Unlike other old Shell washes that were removed in 2007 or 2008, this one survied a couple of years longer, allowing a better view of it with Google Streetview. It was replaced with a Washtec sometime around 2009-10. Napier2.png|This old 2008 Streetview image from Napier confirms that this is a former Ceccato location. OamaruCeccato.png|It may be a blurry image, but the unusual tiled angle of the brushes proves that this site in Oamaru is another former Ceccato location! Google Streetview, 2008 Istobal M12 (early 2000's) I have found at least three sites in Christchurch that once had an Istobal M12. These were installed with fairly randomized rainbow brushes. Two of these (in the blurred pictures) were both both decommissioned in 2007, when Shell got rid of lots of Car Washes nationwide. After some more digging, I found another site in Christchurch whose M12 lasted until at least 2012, during the transition to Z. The wash was sadly decommissioned shortly afterwards. The petrol station now belongs to Mobil, and a private car wash centre has opened where the wash bays were, but they does not have an automated machine. M12-1shell.png Ceccato-5.png Ceccato-2Catner.png Ryko Excel (2000's) Not many Shell's got these, likely since most sites that had Car Washes were using 1990's machines that were all replaced more or less in one go from 2007-2009. Nevertheless, a few sites did get to have Ryko Excel's, with Red, Yellow & Blue brushes. None of these remain at any Z stations. RykoExcel-1.png WashTec SoftCare (2007-Present) Shell began installing Washtec SoftCare's in 2007, and to this day they are still being installed by Z. These would've originally had the traditional Shell Red, Yellow & Blue brushes. When Z took over Shell in 2011, all of these has their the brushes replaced with orange ones, and in 2018 all machines had their brushes changed again, this time orange & dark-blue. JVille1.jpg Wellington1s.jpg Wellington4.jpg Wellington2.jpg Wellington3.jpg Jville2.jpg Kapiti3z.jpg LHutt1.jpg LHutt2.jpg Kapiti4z.jpg Wellington6.jpg Kapiti1Z.jpg DSCN4407.JPG DSCN5752.JPG DSCN5753.JPG Wellington5.jpg Kapiti5Z.jpg WashTec SoftCare Evo (2007-Present) In addition to installing the classic SoftCare, Shell also began installing the Evo variant in 2007, which Z continues to install to this day. The brush history is exactly the same - shell brushes from new, replaced with Orange ones in 2011, and replaced with Orange & Dark-Blue ones in 2018. AklAirport3.png Masterton3.png Startford3.png Masterton2z.jpg Masterton1Z.jpg Airport1z.jpg Airport2Z.jpg Startford2.png Napier 1.jpg DSCN8418.JPG DSCN8423.JPG Airport3.jpg Airport4.jpg DSCN7738.JPG DSCN7739.JPG AklAirport1.png Napier3.png Washtec SoftCare Juno (2007-????) The Juno is a version of the SoftCare that features two top-brushes and two dryers. At first, I thought that the only Juno's in New Zealand were installed by BP, until I discovered one at a Z site in Christchurch. The exact year of installation is unclear, as there is a gap in the Google streetview between 2008 (when the site still had a Ryko Monarch II) and 2012. This also sadly means that there is no way to view it with Shell Brushes. JUNO-3.png JUNO-2.png JUNO-1.png